The Spruce Grove, Alta. native just happens to be one of the favourites — perhaps the favourite — to etch her place in history as the first athlete to seize gold here in Canada.

"It doesn't matter that it's Day 1," said Dominick Gauthier, Heil's coach and boyfriend. "It could be Day 2 or Day 10. Doesn't matter. The same pressure is there.

"She knows what's coming her way."

The hype surrounding Heil exists for a reason. Actually many reasons.

She soars onto Cypress Mountain tonight ranked the No. 1 female moguls skier in the world. She won gold in her last four World Cup appearances before the Olympics.

But the most convincing argument? She won Canada's first gold at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.

She did it before. She can do it again.

"In 2006, maybe John Smith on 3rd Avenue in Calgary didn't know Jenn until she won the Olympics," Gauthier said. "But for us, in our own world, we knew Jenn was going to the Games. We knew if she didn't do it, she would be tagged as a choker. So the pressure is the same.

"Here in Vancouver, she's ready to face the music again. It's just a different symphony."

Four years ago, Heil's golden moment created an avalanche of 24 podium finishes for the Canadian crew in Italy.

"I ran into the women's hockey team, " she said. "They had waited to watch my run before they went out to training on the ice.

"They said it gave them a huge boost in energy. So for sure we're all going to be feeding off each other's performance here. We have such a strong team."

Heil is hardly the only contender to win gold tonight on the slopes of Cypress. Americans Heather McPhie, Hannah Kearney and Shannon Bahrke are ranked second, third and fourth in the world, respectively.

Kristi Richards, of Summerland, B.C., is the 2007 world champion, and she's planning to unveil a new trick in the final.

"It's not my first ever," she said of the move known as the back full. "I've probably done a couple of thousand. I've been training it here.

"We'll see."

And then there's defending world champion Aiko Uemura. The Japanese media darling is literally mobbed by reporters after every training run.

Want to know about pressure? Talk to Uemura — if you can get anywhere near her.

"It's to the same level as Sidney Crosby here," Gauthier said. "I'm not exaggerating. They're a fanatic nation and society. They idolize people.

"It's heavy, heavy on her shoulders. She's a star and with great power comes great responsibility, like Spiderman knows about.''

Heil can empathize.

"Hey, we signed up for this," she said. "Since I was a young girl — maybe nine years old — I've been dreaming of going to the Olympic Games.